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Operation Castor
Part of First Indochina War
Date November 20-November 22, 1953 Location Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam Result French Union victory, creation of the Dien Bien Phu outpost
Combatants
French Union State of Vietnam	Viet Minh
Commanders
Jean Gilles, Jean Dechaux, Henri Navarre
Strength
4.195 (as of November 22)[1]
Casualties
As of November 20: 16 killed, 47 wounded	As of November 20: 115 killed, 4 wounded (POW)

Opération Castor (French: Operation Beaver) was a French airborne operation in the First Indochina War. The operation established a fortified airhead in Dien Bien Province, deep in the jungles of Vietnam. Commanded by Brigadier General Jean Gilles, Castor was the largest airborne operation since World War II. The Operation began at 1035 on November 20, 1953, with reinforcements dropped on the following two days, with all objectives secured, the operation ended on November 22.

The French paratroopers of the 6th Bataillion de Parachutistes Coloniaux (6 BPC) and the 2e Batallion, 1er Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes (II/1 RCP) dropped over the Dien Bien Phu hills in order to secure the airstrip built by the Japanese during the occupation of French Indochina by Japan from 1940 to 1945. The operation took 65 of the 70 operational Dakota and all 12 C-119 Flying Boxcar transport aircraft the French had in the area, and still required two trips to get the lead elements into the valley. Also dropped in the first wave were elements of the 17th Airborne Combat Engineers and the Headquarters group of Groupement Aeroporte 1 (GAP 1). They were followed later that afternoon by the 1er Bataillion de Parachutistes Coloniaux (1 BPC) and elements of 35e Régiment d'Artillerie Légère Parachutistes (35 RALP) and other combat support elements.

The following day, GAP 2, consisting of 1er Bataillion Etranger de Parachutistes (1 BEP), 8e Bataillion de Parachutistes de Choc (8 BCP), other combat support elements and the entire command and Headquarters group for the Dien Bien Phu operation under Brigadier General Jean Gilles was dropped in. While on another drop zone, the heavy equipment came down and the engineers quickly set about repairing and lengthening the airstrip.

On 22 November, the last troops of the initial garrison, the 5e Bataillion de Parachutistes Vietnamiens (5 BPVN), jumped into the valley. Also, in the same "stick" as the commander of 5 BPVN was Mlle. Brigitte Friang, the only woman reporter with a military parachutist diploma, and five combat jumps.

General Navarre created the outpost to draw the Viet Minh into fighting a pitched battle. That battle, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, occurred four months after Operation Castor.

• details on Operation Castor at DienBienPhu.org
• French ambassor honors to U.S. pilots at Castor and Dien Bien Phu, Feb. 25, 2005